The Plan
by DragonSorceress22
Summary: Marik meets Bakura, possessed by the Spirit of the Millennium Ring, in an alley during the Battle City tournament and they strike a deal: an alliance in exchange for the Millennium Rod. But what happens after that?


_The Plan_

[X]

Marik met Bakura as promised in a dingy alley between two of Domino City's larger skyscrapers.

"So what exactly is this plan of yours, Marik," Bakura said impatiently. The sun wasn't even up yet and a chilled wind swirled between the buildings, stirring up the smell of rotting food from the dumpsters. He made no effort to hide his disgust.

"As I said before, I need a quick way to get Yuugi's friends to trust me." Marik pulled out a hunting knife, the flawless blade gleaming briefly as it caught the light from a street lamp. He moved deeper into the alley, into the crossing shadows of the buildings.

Bakura eyed the blade suspiciously. He already knew that his new partner could not be trusted, and now he had been drawn into a situation that was distinctly unfavorable. The tines of the Millennium Ring tinkled gently, responding to his distrust.

"Yes, but you still have not explained how you plan to accomplish this," Bakura said sharply. "What does it have to do with me?"

"Nothing at all," Marik said. "It has to do with your host."

Bakura felt the familiar, involuntary tightening in his chest that came whenever he was forced to think about Ryou. The Ring shuddered around his neck, resonating with the sudden wave of defensiveness he felt.

"Your host is an acquaintance of Yuugi and his friends, isn't that right?"

"Yes," Bakura answered slowly.

"Then if I were to help him out of some trouble, I would surely gain their trust, don't you agree?" Marik asked, sensing that Bakura would tolerate no more delays in his explanation. "If he were to be attacked, for instance…" he said, playing with the tip of the knife.

"Why should I agree to something like that?" Bakura snapped. "Why should I take that kind of risk?"

"If you're asking what you stand to gain… you already know my offer."

Bakura's scowl deepened. The Millennium Rod. It was tempting, but the partnership he had willingly entered into was beginning to seem like more trouble than it was worth. There were other ways to make the Millennium Rod his own.

Marik did not misread Bakura's intentions. All at once, the alley was filled with robed men, emerging from doors and around corners, their eyes blank and the Millennium Symbol shining on their foreheads. They surrounded their master and his partner and stood silently, waiting.

Bakura's hand twitched, but he did not take hold of the Millennium Ring.

"All right, Marik," he said smoothly. "What exactly do you need me to do?"

A small smile came to Marik's face. "Just hold still." He stepped forward and Bakura immediately moved as well. He grabbed Marik's wrist, his grip tight enough to bruise, and the cloaked men all drew in on them but stopped short of taking action. Marik was watching Bakura's face, calm and collected in the faint light of early morning.

"An injury serious enough to illicit deep gratitude for his rescue, but nothing more than you're… comfortable with," Marik elaborated. Bakura nodded and released Marik, only to quickly steal the knife out of his hand. One of Marik's slaves was on him in an instant, but Bakura turned the knife on himself, stabbing it deep into his left arm. Marik stopped short, shocked, but his slave, having no orders to stop, grabbed Bakura and forced his arms behind his back. He groaned as the rough movement jerked the blade still imbedded in his arm.

"Stop," Marik ordered, though his voice shook subtly. His face seemed to have lost some color and Bakura suddenly realized that, until now, all of Marik's plans had involved mind control and shadow magic. No blood had yet been spilled, at least, not right in front of him.

Marik's puppet released Bakura's arms and backed up, blending into the surrounding group again. Bakura grabbed the knife and ripped it out of his arm violently enough to splatter a few drops of blood on his partner.

"I assume that will suffice," he said, all confidence returning in the face of Marik's weakness.

Marik fought to regain his composure, standing up a little straighter and fixing a scowl on his face. "We'll see," he said. Several of his servants closed in around Bakura again at Marik's silent command. "Maybe you'll make a more convincing victim after you've been left to bleed for a few hours."

Bakura could hardly move. Two of Marik's men had already gotten hold of his arms and another was closing in on him. "Marik! What do you think you're doing?" He didn't intend to wait for an answer. Light was already shining from the Millennium Ring, but a moment later it faded away as one of the robed men struck Bakura hard enough to knock him out. His body fell limp, held up only by the two men restraining his arms. Marik turned away.

"Take him to the warehouse. I'll come for him later," he said.

The alley slowly emptied, leaving Marik alone. He felt faintly nauseous, but he tried to ignore it. He had left his motorcycle around the corner at the end of the alley, and a drive, he decided, was exactly what he needed.

[X]

Bakura was only vaguely conscious when Marik came to the warehouse hours later. He had lost a lot of blood in the time he'd spent bound to a chair in the large, quiet building, and he could barely raise his head when Marik addressed him.

"It's time," he said, walking up to him. "My Ghouls have located Yuugi's friends." He received no answer and quickly lost his patience, grabbing Bakura's hair and jerking his head up so he could see his face. "Did you hear me?" he demanded.

The eyes that glared back at him through the haze of blood-loss were clearly still those of the spirit of the Millennium Ring. "I heard you," the rough voice answered.

"Then release your host so I can take him there," Marik ordered, releasing his grip on Bakura's hair.

"That wasn't part of the deal," Bakura said.

Marik didn't waste time arguing. He took hold of the Millennium Rod and turned it on Bakura, the bright glow reflecting in the thief's eyes. The Millennium Ring flickered weakly but Marik's power overwhelmed Bakura in his weakened state and he felt his hold on Ryou's body slip. He struggled to suppress Ryou's consciousness as it rose up automatically to take his place, but with a jarring pulse, Marik forced the ancient spirit down into black silence.

Ryou gasped as if he'd been held under water. His eyes were wide with fear, but only for a few moments before the effects of his physical trauma washed over him. A soft whimper escaped from his throat and his hand twitched as he instinctively tried to reach for his injured arm, but he could only tug at the ropes binding him to the chair.

"Wh-What…?" he managed to stammer, his voice trembling.

Marik cut the ropes away but Ryou didn't move. Without a word, Marik knelt next to the chair and tied a clean strip of cloth tightly around the boy's wounded arm.

Ryou watched Marik warily, but his focus was divided. Fear and pain mixed in the thickening fog in his head and he tried to concentrate on his breathing which had sped erratically, but it was too much for him to handle. He blacked out, falling out of the chair and into Marik's waiting arms.

Marik shifted carefully under Ryou's dead weight and braced himself to stand, the boy's arm slung over his shoulders for support. As he headed for the door, he glanced at the face of the innocent boy, pale and worn and helpless, and was surprised to feel none of the turmoil he had spent the early hours of the morning running from as he sped through the city streets.

He opened the warehouse door and stepped out into the bright sunlight with his unwilling partner.

There was only one thing left to do.

[X]

**The Plan—Author's Note:**

Okay, so I wrote this with only the anime in mind because for a long time that was all I had to go on. It doesn't match with the manga's version of events (or even with the anime's timeline really), but I still liked it, so I thought maybe others might as well

I might do a Yu-Gi-Oh!/Ouran High School Host Club crossover about Kaiba and Kyoya next, just because I thought it would be fun to see how those two would respond to each other if I threw them together. Even I don't know how this will turn out! Anyway, the timeline for that one is really uncertain, so just keep an eye out, and thanks so much for reading!

~DS


End file.
